


Space Ranger Partners

by Padfoots_Pawprint



Series: Julance 2019 [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cute, JuLance, Julance 2019, Origins, pre-klance, space ranger partners
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-08-10 00:00:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20126005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Padfoots_Pawprint/pseuds/Padfoots_Pawprint
Summary: The moment he says it, Lance knows that it's something he's never going to stop saying.





	Space Ranger Partners

The moment he says it, Lance knows that it's something he's never going to stop saying. It doesn't matter what one-sided rivalry they've had in the past or Lance's own feelings of jealousy's unhealthy manifestation. His own feelings hardly seem significant all of a sudden because despite it all, even hours after he's said it, the sense of satisfaction and happiness he's riding is not his own.

It's Keith's.

When the words leave his lips, he intends them to be something light-hearted, an easy answer to a curious alien's question. It really is a no-brainer. He hasn't thought long and hard on it. There's just a brief hesitation in which Lance thinks of everything Keith has been to him - goal, rival, teammate, friend - and then he's admitting that they're space ranger partners, a duo to be reckoned with on the battlefield. He feels like that's a relatively accurate description of them, especially to the small audience of alien children he's found himself in front of.

When they coo and awe at the words, Lance allows himself to get a little smug with it, impressed with his own words. To make it better, Shiro comes up to him and praises him for it with a warm hand on his shoulder.

"I'm glad you and Keith are on the same page," he says with a laugh, and when Lance offers a quizzical look, Shiro continues with, "Keith's expression to what you said about the pair of you seemed really positive, Lance. I'm glad you're both thinking of each other as teammates and partners.

Lance's eyes go to Keith instantly, to where he and Allura are discussing strategies to better fortify this particular alien kingdom. And although Keith's face ought to be wearing his customary frown of concentration, there's some pink on his cheeks and a quirk to his mouth that looks like it's a carefully controlled smile. He looks like someone just told him the best news ever and he's trying not to jump for joy.

"Really?" The word comes out kind of scratchy, full of an eager hopefulness that Lance feels is a little uncalled for. It's _years_ too early to sound like that. Lance clears his voice and tries again, his eyes flickering to Shiro quickly. "Sorry, really?"

"Saw it with my own eyes," promises Shiro.

Lance chuckles nervously. Because there's no way that Keith Kogane, pilot of their generation, heard Lance call them "Space Ranger Partners" and be happy with it. "Maybe he didn't hear it," says Lance, one of his weaker excuses considering that Keith really isn't that far away. "Besides, I don't think Keith and I would really… agree on this sort of thing."

"You'd be surprised at how much you boys can agree on." The reassurance is cryptic at best, but Lance trusts Shiro. If the man told him that the moon landing was fake, he'd believe him. 

It helps that a secret part of Lance has always wanted that kind of reaction from Keith. Something that's not all banter and glares and challenges.

It's something that makes his heartbeat quicken and cheeks flush like he just realized he forgot to mute the comms before singing in his lion. And it's something that only gets worse when Keith joins him later, the smile on his face more playful now that he's traded diplomatic posturing with Shiro.

"So, 'space ranger partners' huh?" He says and before Lance can stutter out something (Well, he doesn't really know what he could say when he's both embarrassed at being caught but pleased with the outcome) Keith is carrying on with, "I like the sound of that."

"Yeah?" Oh god, Lance can't even bring himself to look at him. Lance knows that if he does, Keith will see the flush of his face and just _know_ what Lance is thinking. Which would be incredible, because even Lance doesn't really know what he's thinking about Keith these days. Keeping his eyes straight ahead, Lance says, "Good. About time you cool it with the 'lone wolf' trope."

"Thanks, Lance."

"No-" there's a touch that's featherlight on the inside of his wrist, one he's not even sure he felt, but he looks at Keith anyway. It's reflexive and a mistake and the best decision he could have made all at once. "-problem."

Because now, there’s a warm pink across Keith's face coupled with a soft and grateful smile is about as rare a look as Lance has ever seen, and even if he tells Pidge and Hunk about it the moment Keith is gone, he doubts they'd believe him. This is a moment reserved for both of them, and nothing can take it away.

There's some noise in the periphery that Lance doesn't respond to but Keith does, his eyes releasing Lance from whatever spell they had him under, and looking just over his shoulder. He nods and then Keith is putting his hand in the same spot Shiro did and giving it a squeeze. It's nothing like Shiro's hand at all, not full of faith and family, but full of affection and camaraderie. "Later, partner," he says, and the nickname sends Lance's pulse into overdrive.

"Later, partner." He tips an imaginary cowboy hat in Keith's direction, who just rolls his eyes, smile still affixed to his face, and turns to join the conversation with the alien consulate, oblivious to how he's left Lance half-breathless with such a simple word.

Yeah, thinks Lance, he's never going to stop saying it.


End file.
